Vastu-shastra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v2.c74.s2.196

v2.c74.s2.196

In the end a word may be said to the several factors which ‘collectively contributed to the phenomenal [rise to importance of this practice and the consequent development of the iconoplastic art in its various phases’. The first and foremost of them according to Dr. Bannerjea, was undoubtedly the wide prevalence of sectarianism in India in the centuries of Christian era. In the writer’s Pratimā-vijñāna, a detailed exposition of these manifold sects has already been attempted and Dr. Bannerjea’s desertation on the theme (D. H. I. pp. 32 on wards) is very valuable information and the reader is referred to, to read all this. The phenomenal rise in the number of divinities and new errants in the orthodox hierarchy comprising not only the Brahmanic pantheon, but also the Buddhist and Jain ones, is another factor in the exuberant upsurge.